Deep Cover

Did they really make movies like this? Dated. Badly. Like a TV show.

This movie was certainly a very unusual but welcoming surprise of a mix between a neo-noir and blaxploitation crime thriller. The acting here is top-notch and the direction and soundtrack are very worthy of praise also, though the main merit here definetely goes to it's great story and script, being very raw, visceral and sensitive in it's portray of such a massive problem, that manages to correctly tackle it's actual, undercover (pun-intended) roots, showing that even the ones that are supposed to protect us probably might as well be the cause of the problem; unlike most films in it's likeness that offer a innacurate, sanitized and quite honestly romanticized -- for both sides -- depiction of traficcking.

Damn solid movie overall. Worth checking out if you can't decide on in a movie one night.

still a good watch, decades later

It hasn't aged well.

I will watch this movie over and over again. A very serious look into what is good and evil.

Early 90's west coast crime drama has aged quite well. Wonderful cinematography and some noir-ish style make the already compelling tale more easy to get swept up in.

"No, Mr. Guzman, I think you'll note there's no such thing as an American anymore. No Hispanics, no Japanese, no blacks, no whites, no nothings. Just rich people and poor people. The three of us are all rich, so we're on the same side." Noted character actor Bill Duke moves behind the camera to direct a crime thriller filled with political acuity. Deep Cover doesn't languish in photorealistic portraits of urban life, trending towards excess to hammer its points home, but feels sharp as a tack describing the still-relevant corrupt balance between politics, money, crime, drugs, and racism, a cocktail built on human suffering and designed to crank out money. While Infernal Affairs and The Departed would make undercover cop work into a psychological experience, here it's more straightforward and grounded, but without forgetting that there's a sense of unpredictability and entertainment value that needs to be maintained. "Larry" Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum form this entertaining odd couple dynamic that builds into an oddly compelling kinship by the film's final scenes. Don't let people tell you that this is just a predictable '90s take on the blaxploitation genre, there was clear intent behind this film even if audiences have come to expect a greater degree of grit in their crime films. (3.5/5)

A bit of the acting is over the top, but the melodrama suits the film noir style that it's molded itself after. It's a hard boiled detective crime drama that has some important points to make about race and the state of America in the 90s. It's bleak, it's dark, I loved it.

I had no idea that Larry Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum did a movie together. This was really good. Most movies don't age so well. There was a tiny bit of 90s cheese in there, but it wasn't too detracting.